ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – Kurt and Brenda Warner left St. Louis years ago, but their legacy here continues in the form of charity.

USAgain, the textile recycling company with a division office in St. Louis, dropped off a truckload of of boxes jammed with more than 1,000 coats to help kick off the Warners’ Warm-Up Coat Drive in partnership with the Kurt Warner First Things First Foundation and Operation Food Search.

The annual drive runs through November 14th.

“We hope to collect about 15,000 coats,” said Sunny Schaefer of Operation Food Search. “The coats collected do much more than provide warm outerwear for people. They let them know others care.”

She’s seen firsthand the impact this program, now in its 13th year, can have on those who are on the receiving end of these donations.

“I was passing out coats one day at a school and this little girl picked up the coat and was smelling it,” Schaefer recalled. “And she said ‘Oh my gosh it smells so good! I’ve never had a new coat’.”

Warners’ Warm-Up will run through Thursday November 14th.

St. Louisans are encouraged to donate new and/or “gently-used” winter coats to be distributed to schools, homeless shelters and other social service agencies throughout the bi-state region this winter by Operation Food Search.

While coats of all shapes and sizes are accepted the greatest need is for childrens’ coats, especially new ones.

Monetary donations are also encouraged via the First Things First website at http://www.kurtwarner.org.